This is advanced documentation. We do not provide general support for this setup. If you don't feel comfortable with data feeds, we do offer this as a professional service instead.

The problem with running two or more websites is the constant management. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to run a primary website which controls all your products, stock control, accounting and orders for multiple stores you’re running through the use of data feeds.

It’s important to note this is a general advice article only and does not fit all scenarios. Customers running sites in different currencies will still need to run separate accounting integration’s for each site. We strongly recommend reviewing your websites to ensure this data feed article is suitable for your business.

Data feed workflow between parent and child website

Preparing your products

To begin with, we need to identify which products the data feed needs to send to the secondary website. To do this, we’ll be creating a unique custom field to identify these products. If you are planning on using all products across all websites, you can skip this step.

Create a field name called Website and set the field type to Short Text. Set both show options to hidden.

Save and close changes. The website custom field will now appear when you navigate to Products > View Products. You now want to fulfill this data by entering the name of the secondary website. (by default it’s in the Other tab).

Alternatively, you can create a product export and make these changes in bulk. To do so, navigate to Setup & Tools > Export Data.

Perform a simple export and select CSV file with all fields and click Preview then click Export. This may take anywhere between a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the amount of data. Once the export is complete, click the Download button.

Open the CSV Download and locate the Website tab, fulfill the data with the name of the secondary site. In this case, we’ve just called ours ‘secondary’.

Once finished, save the CSV. We now need to re-upload it back into Neto. Navigate to Setup & Tools > Import Data. Click the Perform simple import and upload the CSV.

Invoice & Statement Settings

On your secondary site, you will need to change the invoice id prefix (eg. the N in invoice number N11195) so that you can distinguish orders and so you don’t have conflicting invoice numbers from your primary site.

Under Order/invoice id prefix, change the prefix to a different letter and save changes.

Sending products to the secondary website

Now that we’ve setup our products, we want to send these products to the secondary website to be live and active.

From the Neto dashboard, navigate to Setup & Tools > Export Data.

Click Perform complex export and click Start Data Export Wizard.

Name the file product-export and click Continue to Next Step.

Under the Fields to Export section, add all the product data fields you wish to export. Include the data field called Custom Fields with Website that we made earlier. Click Continue to Next Step.

Under the Filter Results, scroll down to the Product Custom Field Filters section and under Website ensure you enter the name of the secondary site we prepared earlier. Again, if all products are going to the website, you can skip this part. Once complete, click Continue to Next Step.

You will now be in the final step to generate your file. Set the Send Export File to: Local URL (folder on your website) and copy the Export URL (you will require this later). Tick the checkbox to save the template and give the template a name and set an export schedule for a daily time (preferably early hours in the morning).

Setting the schedule more frequently can backlog priority processes on your website.

Now that you’ve completed this setup, a CSV file will be generated on a daily basis to keep your products up-to-date.

Under the heading, How Are You Uploading Your File? select URL and paste the URL made previously into File Location. Under Request Method, change this to GET otherwise you will get an error. Scroll down to the bottom and press Continue to Next Step.

In your field mapping, ensure your fields are all mapped except for your Custom Website field which can be ignored. You will also want to add the following two database fields, Active and Approved, and set them to static ‘Yes’ values as per the screenshot below.

In the Update Options, set update to be for Add New / Update Existing Products and click Continue to Next Step.

Tick the option to save the import and name the template appropriately and click Process File Now.

The process will be created. Click on the Import Template and open the template.

Click on the Import Method & Schedule tab and scroll down to Import Schedule. We recommend setting this approximately 1 hour later than the previous feed in case there is a delay or backlog on your primary site.

Save Changes. This will now send any products on your primary site flagged for your secondary website to be sent through on a daily basis.

Setup data feeds for your stock quantities

In this section, we’ll be setting up data feeds for stock quantities to be regularly updated on the secondary website. This is important when you use products across both websites and for accurate stock levels.

In your Fields to Export section, you want to export your SKU and Parent SKU (if using variations/kits) as well as Warehouse Stock / Qty in Stock fields. If you have multiple warehouses, map these out as per the example.

In the Filter Results section, leave this untouched and scroll down the bottom and click Continue to Next Step.

Set your export file to Local URL (folder on your website) and copy the URL provided for later. Tick the option to save your template and name it stock quantities. In your export schedule, we recommend sending this schedule as every 30 minutes. If that option doesn’t appear, simply click on the View or Create New Schedule link to create a new schedule. Once complete, click Export Now button.

Now that your feed is setup on your primary site it’s time to setup your feed on your secondary site to regularly update. From the secondary website dashboard, navigate to Setup & Tools > Import Data.

Where it asks How are you uploading your file? select URL and paste the URL made previously in the File Location section. Set the Request Method to GET otherwise an error will occur. Once finished, click Continue to Next Step at the bottom of the page.

Within your field mapping, ensure your SKU, Parent SKU, Qty in Stock for all warehouses are mapped out correctly as per the example below. Once complete, click Continue to Next Step.

Set the update purpose to Update Existing Products Only. Click Continue to Next Step.

When processing your file, tick the checkbox to save the template and name it Stock quantities and click Process File.

Click on the Import Template link and then open the import template to setup the scheduler.

Within the import template, scroll down and click on the Import Method & Schedule tab. Under the Import Schedule drop down menu, set this to 30 minutes. We recommend clicking on View All Schedules and setting the time to run at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour so it doesn’t conflict with other data feeds that run at 0 and 30 minutes past the hour.

For How are you uploading your file? set this to URL and paste the file location copied previously. Change the Request Method to GET otherwise an error will occur. Click Continue to Next Step.

Within field mapping, ensure all the fields are mapped correctly and click Continue to Next Step.

In update options, we recommend the default options set, otherwise make changes based on your own business requirements. Once complete, click Continue to Next Step.

Click the checkbox to save the import template and give the template a name. Click Process File Now.

Upon creation, click on the import template link and open the template ID.

Within the import template, scroll down and click on the Import Method & Schedule tab. Under the Import Schedule drop down menu, set this to hourly. We recommend clicking on View All Schedules and setting the time to run at an odd time in the hour so it doesn’t conflict with other data feeds.

Setting up data feeds for order tracking

In this section of the setup, we're going to create a data feed from the parent site which pushes tracking information down to the child website so customers are aware their orders have been sent.

In the Fields to Export section, add the following fields in the screenshot below and click Continue to Next Step.

In this section, you can filter out any exports you don't want to send to the child site. Use this section to filter out any orders from the parent site that don't relate to the child site. Once you've set your export filters, click on Continue to Next Step.

Set the following settings; Send Export File to Local URL (folder on your website), tick the option to save the export session, set the export template name to Shipping Tracking and set an Export Schedule to a suitable time after you've completed your shipping for the day. Copy the URL provided as this will be needed later. Click Export Now.

Now that we've completed the export, navigate to the child site in order to setup the import data feed.

In the upload file section, select URL as the method used to upload the file. Paste the URL copied previously in the File Location and then set the Request Method to GET and click Continue to Next Step.

In the field mapping section, copy the screenshot below to map your fields. Once complete, click Continue to Next Step.

Choose whether or not you wish to Allow updates to unapproved orders and click Continue to Next Step.

Tick the option to save the import session as a template. Name the template Shipping Tracking and click Process File Now.

An Import Template will be created, click the link to set a scheduled task. Locate the Shipping Tracking template and open it.

Scroll half way down and click on the Import Method & Schedule tab. Scroll down and set a Import Schedule time which is slightly after the original export we set up. 15 minutes is recommended.